How to Make an Electric Heater 



One of three hundred and twenty-six 

 watts capacity is easily constructed 



Bv Roland Jens 



A SMALL electric heater, although 

 sHghtly more expensive to operate 

 than a wood or coal stove, is ideal 

 for a bedroom, or rooms that are not re- 

 quired to be heated at all times. The 

 heated air from an electric 

 heater is as pure as the air 

 in the room in which it 

 is placed, while if the same 

 room is heated with a coal 

 stove, poisonous gases es- 

 cape. Details are shown 

 in Fig. I. The work may 

 be divided into the follow- 

 ing parts: 



(i) Construction of cyl- 

 inders. 



(2) Construction of legs 

 or base. 



(3) Winding of cylinders. 



(4) Construction of cover 

 plate. 



(5) Assembly. 



(6) Connections. 

 First the sheet iron plates 



are to be cut. Sheet iron of 

 1/32 in. thickness should 

 be used, but if this cannot 

 be obtained, plates slightly 

 thicker or thinner will do. 

 Cut the plate for the 12-in. 

 cylinder (Fig. 6). In order 

 to make the corners exactly 

 90", lay off a base line on 

 the plate from which you 

 are to cut and with a car- 

 penter's square lay off on 

 the base line two right an- 

 gles 38% in. apart. 



Lay off 18 in. on the two 

 lines which form a right 

 angle with the base line. 

 Connect the two points by a 

 straight line, and you will 

 have a rectangular plate. 

 The 3^-in. holes are now drilled or 

 punched. Drilling is preferable as it 

 gives a better and more accurate hole 

 than punching. After the plate for the 

 12-in. cylinder is done the plates for the 

 other four cylinders are laid out and 

 drilled in the same manner. 



Fig. 1. Top, eleva- 

 tion and base plan 

 of electric heater 



The next step is the rolling and rivet- 

 ing of the sheet iron plates. If a roller 

 for rolling sheet iron is at hand this part 

 becomes easy, but if it is not, other means 

 will have to be resorted to. One 

 alternative is to bend the 

 plates over a round wooden 

 cylinder or gas pipe which 

 is of about the same diame- 

 ter as the cylinder. As the 

 metal is thin, it can be easily 

 bent in this way with rea- 

 sonable accuracy. After 

 the sheets have been bent, 

 rivet the upper five holes 

 with 34-in- soft iron rivets 

 3/16 in. long. The lower 

 hole is not riveted at this 

 time because the cylinder 

 is fastened to the base by 

 means of this rivet. If the 

 cylinders are not quite 

 round, due to improper 

 bending, they may be 

 rounded off by placing them 

 on a fairh- large piece of gas 

 pipe and pounding them 

 into shape with a maul. 



The legs or stand of the 

 heater are made of two 

 strips of sheet iron }/g in. 

 thick, I in. wide and 17 in. 

 long. (Fig. 11). Center- 

 punch the middle of each 

 piece and lay off the /^-in. 

 holes, as shown in the draw- 

 ing. Drill the holes and file 

 off the burrs caused by 

 drilling. To bend the ends 

 into the shape shown, grip 

 the strip and a ;^4-in. bolt 

 in a vise and pound the 

 metal until it closes around 

 the bolt the desired dist- 

 ance. Remove the bolt 

 and strip. Turn the strip around, tighten 

 in the vise again with the bolt and pound 

 with a hammer to get the second curva- 

 ture. Do this to each end and then rivet 

 the two together with a ^-in. rivet 

 through the center hole. 



The next parts to be made are the ^ 



469 



